Darcy winced. “They took them to the hospital. They’ll keep them there until the funeral.”
“Can we see them?”
More grief crossed his face. “No, pumpkin. I’m afraid not.”
Amy didn’t want to imagine what state the bodies were in. The phone rang again, and Amy gathered the dirty dishes to wash. Darcy carried the phone into Bill’s office and Ed made himself scarce mentioning something about a shower.
“La La, shall we go for a horse ride before it gets too hot?” Georgie suggested.
Lara glanced down the hallway after her father, then sighed. “OK.” They went to change, which left Amy alone in the kitchen with Brandon. He clasped his coffee mug in both hands and stared at it as if it was a crystal ball. She wasn’t entirely sure what to say to him. She was the outsider here, not him, but she had the urge to welcome him like Beth had welcomed her. She huffed out a breath. She was good at small talk. Moving around so much meant she had to be. “Are you staying long?” She winced. That hadn’t come out right. “What I mean is, I can prepare one of the shearer’s rooms for you. That’s where Matt and I stay.” Georgie and Ed were already sharing the spare bedroom in the house and it was too early to suggest he use Bill and Beth’s bedroom.
“Darcy’s already got me in there. Some linen would be nice though.”
Her mouth dropped open. “He made you sleep there without any blankets?”
“Yeah. It doesn’t matter. I’ve slept rougher places.”
She shook her head. “Of course it matters. Beth would give him a good talking to—” Her words died and sorrow replaced them.
His sad smile was full of understanding and she felt a low tug in her belly. He no longer reminded her of a military man, but simply a man.
She cleared her throat. “I’ll make up your bed as soon as I’ve finished the dishes.” She turned her back on him and ran the hot water in the sink. Beth hadn’t believed in dishwashers.
His chair scraped back, and he grabbed a tea towel from where it hung over the oven. “So how long have you been here?”
“Since February.”
“And what is it you actually do?” He seemed a little bewildered.
“I’m in charge of the campgrounds. It’s my job to take reservations, show people around when they arrive and be on hand to answer any questions. I’m working on ideas to keep the guests entertained and to attract more, and I run the Ridge’s website and social media sites.” That had been a learning curve. “It hasn’t been overly busy yet, so I’ve also been helping Beth around the house. The plan was for me to take over the cooking at shearing and help all the temp workers if they need it.”
“How long have the campgrounds been open?”
“We had our first guest in March.” How much did he know about Darcy’s plans and Bill’s reaction to them? “From what I gather it’s a trial. Just six unpowered sites over by the shearing shed. The guests share the shearers’ bathroom. If it works out, they’ll expand it to more sites next season.”
Brandon grunted as he placed the dry bowls in the cupboard. “Anything else new I should know about?”
How was she supposed to know? “You’ll have to ask Darcy.”
Georgie and Lara returned to the kitchen dressed for riding and Lara grabbed the two water bottles Amy had filled for them, tucking them into a backpack.
“Thanks, Amy.” Lara slid the backpack on her shoulders, and they headed out the door.
“I can’t believe how big she is,” Brandon muttered.
“When was the last time you saw her?”
He shook his head. “When she was about this high.” He held his hand to his thigh. “Mum brought her to Perth when she helped Ed settle into university.”
Probably more than five years then. No wonder Lara hadn’t recognised him. “Kids tend to grow fast.” So why hadn’t he been home? From experience she knew military men did get leave, did get to come home to their families every once in a while. Far too often for her liking.
Pushing away the memory of her father, she retrieved the flour from the cupboard, and then milk and lemonade from the fridge. If they were having people around, she’d make a batch of Beth’s famous scones and then perhaps some biscuits.
Ed came in, his hair damp from the shower, wearing an astronomy related T-shirt and a pair of shorts. He examined the ingredients. “Scones?”
She nodded.
“Great. I’ll make the choc chip biscuits.” He grabbed the ingredients he needed and turned on the oven.
